------------#218: MEET TUHOI DELEGATION TUES POT LUCK DINNER------------

GLOBAL PEACE AND JUSTICE AUCKLAND NEWSLETTER #218, December 3, 2007

Website [http://www.gpja.org.nz/] To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter visit
[http://www.gpja.org.nz/]

Dear friends,

A Special Pot Luck Dinner with some of the Tuhoi delegation replaces the regular Civil Rights Defence Committee meeting this week Tuesday, Dec 4, 6.30pm, Latin American Centre, 37 Selwyn St, Onehunga

AUCKLAND: Civil Rights Defence Committee, 6pm, this Tuesday is a special meeting at the Auckland Latin American Centre. Its a POT LUCK dinner so bring a plate and BYO drinks, meet and greet and meeting with Tuhoe crew before they go back to Ruatoki the following day. Any queries, drop me an email or phone; 02102445635 / 2766749 hm – Julia Espinoza

FUNDRAISING - URGENT - WE NEED $10,000 BY XMAS We urgently need funds to help meet the large costs we have incurred so far and costs we can predict over the next few months. To put it bluntly we need to raise $10,000 before XMAS. MAKE A DONATION TO A DEFENCE FUND ONLINE 38-9000-0099726-00: Indentify donation as being for the defence fund. Initial patrons of the fund are Jane Kelsey, John Minto, Simon Oosterman and Mike Treen. Or Use your credit card through Paypal
[http://www.civilrightsdefence.org.nz/donate]

Send a cheque to GPJA c/o treasurer Brian Van Dam, 16 Browning St Manurewa. THE BEST SUPPORT IS A SMALL MONTHLY – IE $10 A MONTH - AUTOMATIC PAYMENT FOR THE LONG TERM THAT CAN SUPPORT THE ONGOING WORK OF GPJA. GET SUBSCRIBERS TO THIS NEWSLETTER Please forward this newsletter to anyone you think may be interested and tell them they can subscribe at [http://gpja.org.nz/]

ORGANISING MEETINGS

AUCKLAND: Civil Rights Defence Committee, 6pm, this Tuesday is a special meeting at the Auckland Latin American Centre, 37 Selwyn St, Onehunga at 6:30pm. Its a POT LUCK dinner so bring a plate and BYO drinks, meet and greet and meeting with Tuhoe crew before they go back to Ruatoki the following day. Any queries, drop me an email or phone; 02102445635 / 2766749 hm – Julia Espinoza. Regular meeting resumes next week at Unite House, L12, 300 Queen St, 6pm.

WELLINGTON: Weekly support group meetings - open to all - 6pm Tuesdays at 128 Abel Smith St

AUCKLAND

Monday and Tuesday, December 3 &4, 10am-12 noon, outside Auckland District Court Rally to give solidarity to the 16 appearing in Court those days

Friday, December 7, 9pm to late, Kings Arms, 59 France St, Newtown RISE UP! BENEFIT CONCERT FOR THE TUHOE – together with - : DAM NATIVE
[http://www.damnative.com/] CORNER STONE ROOTS - UNITY PACIFIC - BATUCADA SOUND MACHINE - NAT ROSE - DAM NATIVE - DLT - MISS B ME - DT - ANTONIO TE MAIOHA - BT - MISS GINGER HAWAIIAN MC; and more. $25 at door. $20 from Real Groovy, Conch Record. www.conscious.maori.nz [http://www.conscious.maori.nz]

Sunday, December 9, 2.30pm, St Columba Centre, 40 Vermont Street, Ponsonby TERRORISM LEGISLATION, INDIGENOUS RIGHTS AND YOU! A Human Rights Network public forum – Dignity and Justice for All of Us. Panel of speakers chaired by Margaret Bedggood with Edwina Hughes –Indigenous Rights/ UN Declaration; Greg Thwaite- Terrorism legislation/ human rights; Tim McBride- NZ Terrorism legislation; Women’s Rights/New Issues-Shila Nair; Kristin Ross and Cicilia Khin-Youth Concerns. For information contact Joan Macdonald email
[joanmac@pl.net]. Phone 360 8001

PALMERSTON NORTH

WELLINGTON

Every Tuesday - 6pm - Support Meeting at 128 Abel Smith St. WAIKAREMOANA December 31 - January 03 - Ten year anniversary of the Waikaremoana occupation

CHRISTCHURCH

Every Friday until Christmas - Vigil in Solidarity with the Tuhoe people: "each week, the vigil will feature a speaker to talk about the issues that have emerged from the raids of the 15. To vigil means to ‘remain awake’. We must remain awake to the political agendas at work in the current climate of the “war against terrorism” and demand an end to the targeting of sisters and brothers who speak truth to power. The vigil will be a peaceful and prayerful presence." From 5pm to 6pm, in Cathedral Square; for more information contact email [moanacole.barrister@paradise.net.nz]

NEWS STORIES

WEBSITES TO LOOK AT www.civilrightsdefence.org.nz [http://www.civilrightsdefence.org.nz]

Full Scoop Coverage: Urewera 17
[http://www.scoop.co.nz/features/urewera17.html]

[http://www.indymedia.org.nz/]

[http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/nzterror.htm]

[http://www.conscious.maori.nz/front.php]

[http://kaupapamaori.com/]

POSTER AND OTHER RESOURCES Or download national posters from
[http://www.civilrightsdefence.org.nz/resources]

A PRIMER ON OPERATION 8 BY MOANA JACKSON “The decision of the Solicitor-General that there was insufficient evidence to warrant charges being laid against twelve people under the Terrorism Suppression Act was welcome news for the whänau of those involved. However many questions still remain about the nature and scope of Operation Eight.” A formatted printable version of this Primer is available online at
[http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/mj121107.pdf]

the html version will be available at
[http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/nzterror.htm]

DEALING WITH POLICE – KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
[http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/YourRights.pdf]

PHOTO GALLERY Visit our Flickr photo group. (Join the group and add your pictures!)
[http://flickr.com/groups/civilrightsdefence/]

FACEBOOK Visit our FaceBook group: [http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=12434385103]

INTERNATIONAL WAR ON FREEDOM Witness Names to Be Withheld From Detainee Defense lawyers preparing for the war crimes trial of a 21-year-old Guantánamo detainee have been ordered by a military judge not to tell their client — or anyone else — the identity of witnesses against him, newly released documents show.
[http://tinyurl.com/2p9l3p]

A Federal Court judge ruled yesterday that Canada must reconsider a reciprocal refugee-processing agreement with the United States because Washington flouts conventions meant to safeguard immigrants against torture in their homelands. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071130.ASYLUM30/TPSto...
[http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071130.ASYLUM30/TPStory/Front]

ANNOUNCEMENT

THE FUTURE OF WORKERS CHARTER Trades Hall, 147 Great North Road Grey Lynn, 1pm to 2.30pm, Saturday 15th December The Workers Charter newspaper has been published monthly for two years now. It has been part of an attempt to create a broad left alternative to Labour. It has brought a fresh look to union issues, worker struggles and social movements. The paper has endeavoured to combine reporting on these issues with insightful commentary and some in-depth analysis as well as providing general interest material including sports, film reviews and history pieces. It has a small but dedicated regular readership. However after two years we have just 300 subscribers and need to seriously look at the future of the paper. (We owe $4,800 in loans, $2000 to the printers and we have just $450 in the bank – all this before we look at printing the December issue!). Is it serving a useful purpose? If so then why has it not gained a wider subscription base? Does the product justify the huge effort to produce it? This needs to be a frank discussion with a broad range of individuals and organisations taking part. We welcome your participation – If you love the paper come along and let us know. If you hate the paper we need you even more!! If you’ve never heard of it come and find out about it. John Minto, Editor.

LARRY ROSS - Larry has moved into 7, Greenstone Wing, Middlepark Senior Care Centre, 75 Middlepark Road, Upper Riccarton, Christchurch and would probably welcome a visitor or phone call on occasions. During the week from November 30th to December 6th especially, we would love to have visitors for Larry. I am sure many people all over the country know of the work Larry Ross has done over the last 50 years or more. Here are the memories from some friends and admirers of his efforts so far. [http://www.nuclearfreenz.org.nz/larryprogress.htm]

PORT OF NAPIER CAMPAIGN 2007 The campaign to keep secure local jobs in the Port of Napier, New Zealand
[http://portofnapier.info/campaign/]

New Zealand: Stop contracting-out at Port of Napier http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c...
[http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=314]

SUBMISSIONS ON EASTER TRADING After seeing off two private members bills on liberalising trading at Easter earlier in the year, the National Distribution Union are mobilising again to protect Easter for retail workers, and would appreciate your help. The government has released a discussion document which contains options for reducing shop trading protections, and is calling for submissions. There is a tight timeline on submissions, which close on December 14. Submissions can be posted or made online, more details at:
[http://dol.govt.nz/consultation/shoptrading/index.asp] The NDU have said it would be great if unions could both make a submission and get workers in other industries to make submissions on the shorter 2 page form on their website (see below). Also if they email their submissions to the NDU they will put them up on the website (email to [media@ndu.org.nz]). The NDU submission guide, a poster and leaflet, and a sample 2-page submissionare on the NDU ShelfRespect site.
[http://www.shelfrespect.org/eastertrading] NOW THE PEOPLE HAVE AWOKEN: EXPLORING VENEZUELA'S REVOLUTION Except for beauty queens and oil, Venezuela has never been on the international stage. Now Venezuela is at the center of international controversy: for some it has been stolen by populist dictator, while for others Venezuela represents the centre of a continent-wide democratic revolution. There is much at stake. Venezuela sits atop the biggest oil reserves in the world, which are being used to foment a new order. President Hugo Chavez, who survived a military coup in 2002, has supported a number of controversial social programs which have pushed Venezuela onto the United States government, and media, enemy radar. What makes Venezuela tick? Who is behind the movement and what does it seek? Filmed through the 2006 presidential elections, this is a film about the people of the new Venezuela. New NZ Documentary, 12 December, 8.15 pm, Academy Cinemas, Public Library, Lorne St, Auckland Film followed by discussion with local directors. To reserve your ticket contact
[activoproductions@yahoo.com] or call 0210339220. $10 unwaged; $14 waged

TOUR FOR NOTED US CIVIL RIGHTS LAWYER LEONARD WEINGLASS Dear Friend, The Cuba Friendship Society in Auckland invites you to be part of an international campaign calling for the release of five Cubans imprisoned in the United States. Gerardo Hernández, René González, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, and Fernando González – the Cuban Five, as they are known – have been in U.S. prisons for nine years. They were convicted in 2001 of conspiracy to commit espionage for the government of Cuba, and related charges. The five men were monitoring Cuban-American organisations based in Miami in order to uncover plans and activities that posed a threat to the safety of the Cuban people. These organisations have an extensive record of carrying out violent attacks against Cuba from U.S. soil, including assassination attempts on Cuban officials, biological warfare, and bombings. Leonard Weinglass, one of the U.S.-based attorneys for the Cuban Five, will be touring Australia early April 2008 to raise awareness and build support for this campaign. He will be available to visit Auckland for two days as part of this tour. Beginning in the 1970s, Leonard Weinglass has defended many political activists, including Angela Davis, Mumia Abu Jamal, and leaders of the American Indian Movement. In 2004, the American Trial Lawyers Association voted to name an annual award, the Leonard I. Weinglass Award, honouring lawyers who contribute to human rights and civil liberties causes. If you want to help with the tour, need further information, or have ideas on fund-raising or others to approach, please let us know. Email:
[cubafriendship@xtra.co.nz] More information about the Cuban Five can be found at www.freethefive.org [http://www.freethefive.org]

WAIHOPAI SPYBASE PROTEST JANUARY 25-27, 2008 The public face of New Zealand’s role as an American ally is the NZ military presence in Afghanistan. But New Zealand’s most significant contribution to that, and other American wars, including the one in Iraq, is the Waihopai spybase. [http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0701/S00036.htm]

To register send $40 ($20 unwaged) to the Anti-Bases Campaign, P.O. Box 2258, Christchurch. Make all cheques to ABC. E-mail [cafca@chch.planet.org.nz]

www.converge.org.nz/abc [http://www.converge.org.nz/abc]

VISIT CUBA THIS SUMMER Cuba consistently makes the news: whether it is it’s health care system (see Salud or Sicko), its response to its oil crisis, its environmental programmes, or by remaining a political opponent of US imperialism for forty years. It is also the home of salsa and its music is world renowned. Registrations are open for the 25th Southern Cross Brigade to Cuba. Members of the Brigade, which is made up of Australians and New Zealanders, spend approximately four weeks in Cuba, leaving 27th December and returning 24th January. The all up cost is $5500, including airfare, spending money and all accommodation and meals. Members of the Brigade often stay longer in Cuba as private travelers or move onto other countries in the region. For further enquiries and registration e- mail Ina at [inashina@clear.net.nz] or Paul at
[wkcultur@ihug.co.nz] (03 732 4010).

WHAT’S ON IN AUCKLAND

Monday and Tuesday, December 3 &4, 10am-12 noon, outside Auckland District Court Rally to give solidarity to the 16 appearing in Court those days

Tuesday, Dec 4, 6.30pm, Latin American Centre, 37 Selwyn St, Onehunga AUCKLAND: Civil Rights Defence Committee, 6pm, this Tuesday is a special meeting at the Auckland Latin American Centre. Its a POT LUCK dinner so bring a plate and BYO drinks, meet and greet and meeting with Tuhoe crew before they go back to Ruatoki the following day. Any queries, drop me an email or phone; 02102445635 / 2766749 hm – Julia Espinoza

Tuesday, December 4, 6pm, St Columba Centre, Vermont St Ponsonby, Auckland AGM OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION OF AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND With guest speakers Deborah Manning and Ahmed Zaoui - 'The role of non-governmental organisations in defending human rights: Reflections on the Zaoui case' Starts 6pm, drinks and nibbles from 5.30pm. All welcome. A flyer for this event is available at [http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/hrfagm07.pdf] You can join the Human Rights Foundation online at [http://www.humanrights.co.nz]

Friday, December 7, 9pm to late, Kings Arms, 59 France St, Newtown RISE UP! BENEFIT CONCERT FOR THE TUHOE – together with - : DAM NATIVE
[http://www.damnative.com/] CORNER STONE ROOTS - UNITY PACIFIC - BATUCADA SOUND MACHINE - NAT ROSE - DAM NATIVE - DLT - MISS B ME - DT - ANTONIO TE MAIOHA - BT - MISS GINGER HAWAIIAN MC; and more. $25 at door. $20 from Real Groovy, Conch Record. www.conscious.maori.nz [http://www.conscious.maori.nz]

Sunday, December 9, 2.30pm, St Columba Centre, 40 Vermont Street, Ponsonby TERRORISM LEGISLATION, INDIGENOUS RIGHTS AND YOU! A Human Rights Network public forum – Dignity and Justice for All of Us. Panel of speakers chaired by Margaret Bedggood with Edwina Hughes –Indigenous Rights/ UN Declaration; Greg Thwaite- Terrorism legislation/ human rights; Tim McBride- NZ Terrorism legislation; Women’s Rights/New Issues-Shila Nair; Kristin Ross and Cicilia Khin-Youth Concerns. For information contact Joan Macdonald email
[joanmac@pl.net]. Phone 360 8001

Wednesday, December 12, 8.15pm, Academy Cinemas, Public Library, Lorne St, Auckland NOW THE PEOPLE HAVE AWOKEN: EXPLORING VENEZUELA'S REVOLUTION Except for beauty queens and oil, Venezuela has never been on the international stage. Now Venezuela is at the center of international controversy: for some it has been stolen by populist dictator, while for others Venezuela represents the centre of a continent-wide democratic revolution. There is much at stake. Venezuela sits atop the biggest oil reserves in the world, which are being used to foment a new order. President Hugo Chavez, who survived a military coup in 2002, has supported a number of controversial social programs which have pushed Venezuela onto the United States government, and media, enemy radar. What makes Venezuela tick? Who is behind the movement and what does it seek? Filmed through the 2006 presidential elections, this is a film about the people of the new Venezuela. New NZ Documentary, 4 December, 8.15 pm, Academy Cinemas, Public Library, Lorne St, Auckland Film followed by discussion with local directors. To reserve your ticket contact
[activoproductions@yahoo.com] or call 0210339220. $10 unwaged; $14 waged Preview here: [http://youtube.com/watch?v=gSWOLRl0i04]

Saturday, December 15, 9am – 2pm, 2F / 22 Emily Place, Auckland The Dominican Friars and their friends invite you to their HOUSE WARMING AT THE PEACE PLACE. With your help the Peace Place will be: a quiet place in the heart of the city for meditation and prayer where friends work for peace through hospitality, conversation between people of every faith, study of ecology, conflict resolution and social justice. Lifting of Tapu and blessings 9am. Join us for morning tea or call in during the day. Open House to 2pm.

BEST ON THE WEB

NEW ZEALAND New Zealand Union Campaigns to Organize Young Workers
[http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/annis271107.html]

Children Of The Poor: Nothing Matters More
[http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0712/S00014.htm]

REVIEWS A Scramble for Power and Treasure in South Africa
[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/29/books/29masl.html?8bu&emc=bu]

JAPAN Japanese court says Toyota employee died of overwork
[http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest+News/Asia/STIStory_182052.html]

VENEZUELA Risk of Deceptions in Venezuelan Referendum, CEPR Warns
[http://www.cepr.net/content/view/1372/77/]

Democracy Still Alive and Well in Venezuela
[http://www.alternet.org/audits/69041/]

A Gringa’s Diary
[http://gringadiary.blogspot.com/]

BOLIVIA Threat of ‘Secession’ from the East
[http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40242]

The Final Battle in Bolivia Roger Burbach
[http://boliviarising.blogspot.com/2007/11/final-battle-in-bolivia.html]

CANADA Call to action: Stop New Secret Trials Legislation in Canada!
[http://www.jerome.koumbit.org/adil/en/node/222]

PALESTINE Sonja Karkar: Partition of Palestine Ushers in Apartheid - Sixty years on, we are very close to seeing the fulfilment of Ben Gurion’s plan for Israel: “we shall abolish partition and expand into the whole of Palestine.”
[http://www.palestinechronicle.com/story-113007114256.htm
]

ENDS

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